It Wasn't Just You: Apple Took Steps To Block Access to iMessage Using Fake Credentials

Within the newest chapter of blue bubbles versus inexperienced bubbles, Apple has blocked entry to iMessage from credentials masquerading as Apple with the intention to defend its prospects, the corporate advised CNET on Saturday night. This comes after corporations like Beeper and Nothing launched Android apps that had offered a workaround.

The iPhone maker mentioned that it can’t confirm messages despatched by way of unauthorized signifies that had been posing as legitimate Apple credentials. Messages despatched over iMessage have end-to-end encryption to make sure that nobody however the sender and recipient has entry. Apple mentioned that it blocked these “faux credentials” with the intention to defend its prospects.

The transfer comes lower than every week after the corporate Beeper reversed-engineered iMessage entry so that individuals utilizing Android or Home windows might use the service and ship iMessages from non-Apple gadgets. Messages despatched to an iPhone proprietor that might usually present up as inexperienced bubbles from an Android consumer over SMS, confirmed up as blue if despatched from the Beeper Mini Android app or Beeper Cloud, the unique model of the service that routed iMessage by means of a Mac.

“At Apple, we construct our services and products with industry-leading privateness and safety applied sciences designed to present customers management of their information and preserve private info secure,” Apple mentioned in a press release offered to CNET. “We took steps to guard our customers by blocking strategies that exploit faux credentials with the intention to acquire entry to iMessage.”

To take care of end-to-end encryption, Apple cannot confirm these messages despatched by means of masquerading apps as having legitimate credentials.

“These strategies posed important dangers to consumer safety and privateness, together with the potential for metadata publicity and enabling undesirable messages, spam, and phishing assaults,” mentioned Apple. “We are going to proceed to make updates sooner or later to guard our customers.”

Beeper's Tweet in response to Apple — Beeper’s Tweet in response to Apple

Screenshot by Patrick Holland/CNET

Beeper Mini customers took to Reddit on Friday to share that they could not ship or obtain messages utilizing the app.

“It is mind-boggling to learn that Beeper Mini is, ultimately, making these communications much less safe and fewer personal, as a result of that is the alternative of what is taking place,” mentioned Beeper co-founder Eric Migicovsky on a name with CNET Saturday night time. “What we did was make these conversations encrypted. And it is surprising to see a press release that is virtually the polar reverse of what precisely occurred.”

Messages despatched by way of SMS between Android and iPhone customers are unencrypted. However for 3 days final week, the Beeper Mini app allowed Android and iPhone homeowners to speak securely with end-to-end encryption. Migicovsky defined that Apple hasn’t reached out to him or his firm immediately. He defined that Friday’s outage began at 11:30 a.m. and knocked out Beeper Mini and Beeper Cloud, however that his workforce obtained Beeper Cloud up and operating once more inside 23 hours.

“We obtained Beeper Cloud up and operating. So regardless of the assertion, Apple mentioned, it is not completely appropriate. Or no matter they imply by it is not,” mentioned Migicovsky. “As of at this time, as of proper now, it is working nice.”

So what’s subsequent? All this follows Apple’s latest assertion that it could undertake the RCS texting commonplace in 2024. However that does not account for Beeper.
“If anybody doubts the safety and privateness of our app, we’re very happy to supply the supply code of it to a mutually agreed upon third celebration and allow them to be the arbiters of this,” Migicovsky mentioned. “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.”